System and method for generating and displaying a horse racing form for use with a virtual horse race

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system and method for generating and displaying a horse racing form for a completely virtual horse racing environment. The present invention stores a database of values for a virtual horse, each value corresponding to an attribute typically listed in a published daily racing form. In order to simulate horse racing performance, calculations are applied to the values, which are adjusted to account for an individual horse&#39;s running style, track preference, track condition preference, age, or other factors. The results of these calculations are then displayed on a horse racing form. Users of the present invention will be able to place educated bets, or handicap, using the horse racing form. The form may be used in a number of open or closed environments. As a result, the present invention provides a complete virtual horse racing environment based upon fully calculated and realistically weighted mathematical algorithms used to generate the horse racing form.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This nonprovisional utility patent application claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119(e)(1) to provisional patent application number 60/926,334,filed on Apr. 26, 2007.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to virtual horse racing, andspecifically, to a method and system for creating a completely virtualhorse racing environment, with virtual horses, a virtual racetrack, anda horse racing form generated and displayed using data on the virtualhorses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Horse racing has been a popular sport for centuries. Horse racing hastraditionally involved a substantial gambling aspect in addition to therace itself. Those familiar with this aspect know that successfulgambling results require more than blind reliance on luck and chance.There is a significant analysis of a race horse's information and recordof past performance. This analysis and subsequent educated betting basedon this analysis is known as “handicapping.” It is common for a horseracing handicapper to use tools such as a horse racing form in order toplace educated bets on horse races. A typical horse racing form tracks arace horse's historical data, from how the horse performed in certaintrack, distance and environmental conditions, to how the horse performedrelative to other horses. In addition, the horse's weight, age, andgenealogy are summarized. In some cases, jockey and trainer informationis also listed. A traditional racing form may be presented in abroadsheet or newspaper-like printout, such as those published by DailyRacing Form, LLC.

While horse racing is popular, it is also known to be dangerous to thehorses and their jockeys. As a result, many have tried to capture theexcitement and skill from horse racing without involving real horses orjockeys. For example, there have been many mechanical and computer videogames made. While these parlor games simulate the movement of horsesaround a track, they lack the analytical skills involved in reading andplacing bets based on a horse racing form. The advent of the internethas led to many attempts to present online virtual horse racing;however, these internet websites also are lacking for one reason oranother. For instance, some internet horse racing websites merely trackthe performance of actual horse races, providing a virtual jockey clubfor participants. Other internet horse racing sites simulate horseracing statistics using a random number generator, but this leaves theoutcome of the race up to luck without considering the merits of a truehorse racing form. Still other sites simulate horse race results, butuse modified pre-existing racing forms. These sites still rely on realhorse races for data, which does not prevent harm to the horses or theirjockeys.

What is therefore needed is a way to capture the excitement of a horserace and combine it with the skill involved in handicapping withoutinvolving live horses and jockeys. What is needed is a virtual horseracing jockey club that utilizes a virtual horse racing form that is astrue to reality as possible. What is further needed is a simulated horserace environment that uses data from the horse racing form in atrue-to-life weighted manner, such that data is continuously generatedfrom virtual horse races, and consistently updated on the racing form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual horseracing form for use in handicapping a completely virtual horse racingenvironment without any reliance on any real race horses. One skilled inthe art will appreciate that while the horse racing form aspect of thepresent invention is itself not virtual, the data upon which the racingform is based uses data from virtual horses. As referred to herein, theracing form for virtual horses is the virtual horse racing form, whichcan be coupled to a virtual horse racing environment, or can be used tosupport other virtual horse racing environments from other providers.The present invention provides a system and method of creating a virtualhorse racing environment that displays a three-dimensional depiction ofa horse race, without any reliance on actual real-world horse races orreal-world data. The present invention may be displayed and utilized ina variety of environments, from a web-based application, to a casinoenvironment, to a “closed” single-institution, single-platform orsingle-computing environment, to an “open” virtual world environment.Further, the present invention provides a continuously updated virtualhorse racing form based upon the results of the virtual horse race,whereby the form captures all of the information that would typically befound in a traditional printed horse racing form, but adapted andupdated for the virtual jockey club environment. Additionally, thepresent invention permits users to buy, sell, train and race virtualhorses in the virtual horse racing environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an exemplary screenshot showing a virtual racing formembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary screenshot showing another virtual racing formembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screenshot showing a virtual race embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

What is disclosed is a system and method for generating, storing andupdating a virtual horse racing form. An embodiment of the virtual horseracing form supplies the data needed to complement a completely virtualhorse racing environment, including virtual horses, virtual jockeys andvirtual trainers. The present invention provides a data form thatdisplays current and historical statistical information for each virtualhorse in a virtual race. This allows a handicapper to analyze the formfor a virtual horse race and place an educated bet in the same way as heor she does at a real track.

Aspects of the present invention may be stored on a computer accessesover a network. A user may access the computer directly, or through thenetwork. As such, aspects of the present invention may form part of ahosted website. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that theterms “network,” “computer network,” and “online” may be usedinterchangeably and do not imply a particular network embodiment ortopography. In general, any type of network (e.g., LAN, WAN, SAN orinternet) may be used to implement the online or computer networkedembodiment of the present invention. The network may be maintained by aserver, or the network may be serverless. Similarly, any type ofprotocol (e.g., HTTP, FTP, ICMP, UDP, WAP, SIP, H.323, NDMP, TCP/IP) maybe used to communicate across the network.

The Virtual Horse Racing Form

In traditional horse racing, the horse racing form is a record ofsignificant events for a particular horse, including the horse'sperformance in previous races. For example, the traditional horse racingform may include the horse's name, age, gender, weight, color, sire(father), dam (mother), owner, breeder and trainer. Since the racingform is published for a particular race, the form may also include therace name, purse amount, the horse's gate position, the date of therace, the track name, the race number, the track surface, the race'sdistance, and the horse's jockey. The form may further provide in-depthinformation on the horse's past performances for the current racingseason as well as for the horse's entire lifetime. This may include thenumber of races started and won, the number of races where the horsefinished second, the number of races where the horse finished third, andthe number of earnings for the season and for the horse's lifetime. Theinformation may be organized into tables summarizing the horse'sseasonal record and lifetime record. In addition, this same record ofpast performance may be further organized by race lengths or trackconditions, such as wet, dry or turf tracks.

The racing form may also show a record of the horse's “in race”performance. This may include the horse's time at certain intervals inthe race, and the distance the horse was leading the race by or wasbehind other horses running in the race. This information helps ahandicapper visualize previous race performance to determine how thehorse may perform relative to other horses, i.e. whether the horse is afrontrunner, stalker, closer, sprinter, or router in addition to howfast does the horse run.

In addition to information on a horse, the traditional racing form mayalso provide similar data for particular breeders, trainers and jockeys.Since a horse may change any of these three individuals over itslifetime, and since each of these three individuals comes with his ownrecord of past performance and skill sets, this information is importantto a handicapper keen on predicting impact of these factors on a horse'sperformance which in turn can impact the outcome of a race.

Those skilled in the relevant art will therefore appreciate thattraditional print horse racing forms provide an incredible amount ofdata that a handicapper may analyze in order to place educated bets.Because of the large amount of data required for each horse, breeder,trainer and jockey, most efforts to simulate horse racing forms haverelied on real-world data or randomly generated data, not real time dataderived from the running of actual simulated races. It is an aspect ofthe present invention to utilize a computer-based mathematical model tocompile all possible types of information found in a traditional printracing form, and to display this information to the user as a virtualhorse racing form through the use of data derived from the running ofthe simulated races. This computer-based mathematical model may becalled a “racing engine,” and the virtual horse racing form that isdisplayed using the results produced by the racing engine may includethe virtual horse attributes and information as depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary screenshot of a virtual horse racing form thatmay be displayed to a user. One having ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that all of the information shown in FIG. 1 is about acompletely virtual horse, with no basis on any real world values. InFIG. 1, the name 101 of the virtual horse is “My Bride.” My Bride hascolor characteristics 106 that describe her as “chestnut” colored. MyBride's gender 107 is “female,” and her age 108 is “3” years old. Theowner name 102 of My Bride is “I. Fonti.” The breeder name 103 is “D.Lucas.” The present jockey name 104 is “W. Young,” and the presenttrainer name 105 is “B. Porter.” One skilled in the art will appreciatethat the owner name 102, the breeder name 103, the jockey name 104 andthe trainer name 105 may also be handles or names of users of thepresent invention who have enrolled in the virtual horse racing systemto fulfill these roles. One having skill in the art may also appreciatethat these values may also be completely virtual.

The virtual horse racing form of FIG. 1 also illustrates that virtualhorse My Bride's sire 109 is “Barbary Coast,” and her dam 110 was“Bemybride.” One skilled in the art will appreciate that the sire 109and the dam 110 are also virtual horses that may be part of the virtualhorse racing system.

FIG. 1 illustrates a virtual horse racing form for a particular virtualrace. The race track 111 in this example is “Emerald Isle.” The tracksurface 112 is “Dirt,” and the race number 113 is “Race 1.” The date 114of this particular virtual race is “Feb. 17, 2007.” The race name 116 inFIG. 1 is “Arlington.” The race distance 117 is “12.0 Furlongs.” In thisexample, the race purse 115 is “$200,000.” In this particular virtualrace, virtual horse My Bride's post position 120 is listed as “1,” whichmeans that virtual horse My Bride is racing out of gate number 1 in thisparticular race.

The virtual horse racing form of FIG. 1 also depicts data in a tableformat. For example, column 121 labeled “ST” refers to the number ofraces started. One skilled in the art would understand that jockey 104(W. Young) has started in 13 races, and that trainer 105 (B. Porter) hasstarted horses in 31 races. Column 122 labeled “W” refers to the numberof races won. Column 123 labeled “P” refers to the number of races inwhich second place was won. “P” is an abbreviation for “placed.” Column124 labeled “S” refers to the number of races in which third place waswon. “S” is an abbreviation for “show.” The virtual horse's currentearnings for the season as well as lifetime earnings are listed incolumn 126.

One having skill in the art will appreciate that other columns on thevirtual horse racing form with the same header labels will represent thesame type of data. For example, column 125 precedes the “Season” and“Lifetime” records for the number of races started, won, placed andshown by the subject virtual horse, My Bride. This data is alsodisplayed in relation to the type of track surface used, as shown incolumn 127. Column 128 in FIG. 1 reflects the earnings on the differenttrack surfaces.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that a virtual horse racingform may also display data for a virtual horse's “in-race performance,”similar to that found in real-world racing forms. This data may also bepopulated using the racing engine algorithm described further below.FIG. 2 depicts an in-race performance aspect of a virtual horse racingform. As shown, different columns will correspond to different types ofinformation. FIG. 2 contains the following columns:

Column 201: the date of the virtual race

Column 203: the virtual race track identification number and surface

Column 205: the track condition

Column 207: the virtual race name

Column 209: the amount of the virtual race purse

Column 211: the initials of the virtual horse jockey

Column 213: the distance of the virtual race (in furlongs)

Columns 215, 217, 219 and 221 correspond to the times for four intervalsor splits in the virtual race. This number represents the amount of timefor the first virtual horse (leader) to reach the “in race” intervalmarker. For example, if the virtual race was a one mile race and theintervals were set for every quarter of the race, then the four timeslisted in columns 215-221 would reflect the amount of time it took thelead horse to reach the ¼ mile interval, the ½ mile interval, the ¾ mileinterval and the mile (finish line) interval.

Columns 223, 225, 227 and 229 correspond to the virtual horse's positionand length behind the leader at the time when the fours intervalsidentified in columns 215-221 are reached. The larger base numberrepresents the horse's position in the race (i.e. “2” means the virtualhorse was in second place, “3” means the virtual horse was in thirdplace, etc.) while the smaller exponent number represents the number oflengths behind the leading virtual horse at the respective interval (orahead of the second placing virtual horse if the virtual horse isleading). For example, in column 223, the base number represents thatthe virtual horse was in second place at the first interval, 2.29lengths behind the leading horse.

Columns 231, 233 and 235 correspond to the names of the first threevirtual horses that finished in the race named in column 207.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that FIGS. 1 and 2correspond to virtual race form data displayed for a specific virtualhorse. The present invention may display the virtual horse racing formfor a single horse, or may consolidate and display virtual horse racingforms for more than one horse. A person with ordinary skill in the artmay use the virtual horse racing forms for more than one horse to assessthe performance of those horses in a particular virtual race, and mayengage in handicapping in order to predict the outcome of a particularvirtual race. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that FIGS. 1and 2 are merely exemplary formats, and that other formats withadditional or less data may be used as virtual horse racing forms,without departing from the scope of this disclosure or the spirit of thepresent invention.

While the present invention is discussed in the context of a virtualhorse race, a person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciatethat the racing form aspect of the present invention can be comprised ofdata from other virtual races, including but not limited to dog,automobile or human races. One skilled in the art will recognize thatthe racing form data can be tailored for these different types of raceswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

The Racing Engine

In one embodiment, the present invention relies upon a software-based“racing engine” to generate the data for populating a display of thevirtual horse racing form. The racing engine may provide the data for athree-dimensional display of the virtual horse race by running internalcalculations and applying the results. The racing engine may also savethe results of its calculations and update the virtual horse racingforms for each breeder, jockey, trainer and horse involved in race.

The racing engine may make calculations using several independentfactors that may be “static” or “dynamic.” Static factors may becompiled simultaneously to reach a final result. Conversely, dynamicfactors may involve results that rely upon other results; therefore,dynamic factors may need to be calculated independently. One skilled inthe art will appreciate that the static and dynamic factors listed beloware merely exemplary, and are not meant to limit the types of factorsthat may be used by the racing engine aspect of the present invention.One having skill in the art will also appreciate that other factors maybe applied without departing from the scope of this disclosure or thespirit of the present invention. Exemplary steps for applying thesefactors are shown in FIG. 3. A person with ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that FIG. 3 is merely an example of how these factorsmay be applied, and that other methods are possible.

Static Factors

The racing engine may base its calculations on the relative velocitiesof each virtual horse selected for racing in a virtual race. As usedherein, the representation of time and distance it takes for a virtualhorse to travel from one predefined track location to another is a“call.” (301 of FIG. 3). A person having ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the present invention may include a stored database ofdata values assigned to each virtual horse. Static factors may includevalues for distance, fitness, track bias, track condition and tracktype. Other values may also be used, and that this list is merelyexemplary and not meant to restrict the types of static factorsavailable.

Using these static factors, the values for each factor may be adjustedor weighted depending upon the characteristics of the specific virtualhorse. (303 of FIG. 3). In order to prevent results that are toopredictable, the system may apply and generate a “randomness factor” tothe static factors. (305 of FIG. 3). This randomness factor may bedefined by a certain threshold or range to prevent unrealisticperformance calculations for the virtual horse. This threshold may befurther adjusted per race to provide a more reactive virtual raceenvironment. This randomness factor and its associated predefinedthreshold range is described further below for each static factor. Ingeneral, however, the static factors may be adjusted in accordance withthe following examples:

Distance: to calculate the adjustment or weight for the distance factor,the distance of the race may be compared with the preferred runningdistance of each virtual horse. If, for a group of virtual horses in therace, two of the virtual horse's preferred running distances are equal,then two or more calls for each horse may be increased. For example, ifthe horse's running style is a frontrunner, calls 1 and 2 are increased.If the horse's running style is a stalker, calls 2 and 3 are increased.If the horse's running style is a closer, calls 3 and 4 are increased.This adjustment therefore takes into account the personal running stylefor a particular virtual horse, adding to the realism to the inventionand adding a point of analysis to a handicapper.

Fitness: the adjustment for the fitness factor is only applied if thefitness of each horse is less than the set value for a completelyhealthy and non-fatigued horse. This factor may then be used to accountfor a horse's fatigue from race to race. For example, fitness may be setat a value of 1.0. The calls for each horse may then be increaseddepending upon the style of the horse. For example, if the horse'srunning style is a frontrunner, calls 1 and 2 are increased. If thehorse's running style is a stalker, calls 2 and 3 are increased. If thehorse's running style is a closer, calls 3 and 4 are increased.

As in reality, a horse may not gain fitness between races. Instead,horses tend to tire after a race. Similarly, the fitness factor cannotincrease the horse's calls, but may decrease the horse's calls. On ahealthy horse, this factor will have no effect; however, if the horse'sfitness is less than the set value 1.0, then its calls will be decreasedmathematically. The algorithm: ((call value*fitness)−call value) mightbe applied to decrease the call for the less than fit horse. One skilledin the art will appreciate that this algorithm may be adjusted orcombined with other algorithms in order to provide racing form and raceresults for aspects of the present invention.

Track Bias: the adjustment for the track bias factor is only applied toa virtual horse if the running style and track condition of the trackbias match the running style of the horse and the condition of the trackon which the race will be run. This factor accounts for some horses'ability to excel or underperform on certain types of tracks. As such,the track bias may define separate adjustment value or rangecombinations for each of the four calls. The actual amount of eachincrease may be equal to the adjustment value ± a randomness factorconstrained by the adjustment range. A separate value is calculated foreach call, since each call may differ over time as the virtual horseprogresses through a race.

Track Condition: the adjustment for the track condition factor isapplied to horses whose preferred track condition is the same as thecondition of the track on the day the race is run. This factor accountsfor some horses' preference for certain track conditions. For example,if the horse's running style is a frontrunner, calls 1 and 2 may beincreased. If the horse's running style is a stalker, calls 2 and 3 maybe increased. If the horse's running style is a closer, calls 3 and 4may be increased. The adjustment values and ranges control the valueadded to the horse's calls. Similar to other static factors, the actualincrease may be equal to the adjustment value ± a randomness factorconstrained by the adjustment range.

Track Type: the adjustment for the track type factor is only applied toa horse if the preferred track type of the horse matches the type oftrack on which the race will be run. This factor accounts for somehorses' preference for certain types of tracks. Similar to the abovestatic factors, the adjustment to the calls will depend upon the horse'srunning style. Further, the actual amount of each increase may be equalto the adjustment value ± a randomness factor constrained by theadjustment range.

Random: As discussed above, the present invention may introduce arandomness factor in order to account for the randomness sometimes foundin real world horse races. For example, an adjustment for randomness maybe applied to 1 out of every 100 horses. Each virtual horse may have aninternal integer identifier. To determine if the random factor may beapplied, a random number is selected between 1 and 100. If this randomnumber matches the last two digits of the horse's identifier, a randomadjustment is applied to all of the horse's calls. An administrativelydefined adjustment value and range control the value which is added tothe horse's calls. The actual amount of increase may be equal to theadjustment value ± a randomness factor constrained by the adjustmentrange. For example, if the adjustment value is 0.1 and the adjustmentrange is 0.05, the actual amount of increase will be any randomlyselected value in the range of 0.05 to 0.15.

Dynamic Factors

Dynamic factors, or behavioral characteristics, may also be adjusted andweighted according to certain attributes of the horse. In one embodimentof the present invention, the racing engine calculates the dynamicfactors after all of the static factors have been applied to therelative velocities. (307 of FIG. 3). The result of a dynamic factorcomputation may be a single adjustment value that may be applied to thehorse's current velocity before the final comparison is made. Thedynamic factor may be applied depending on the horse's racingstyle—whether the horse is a front runner, stalker or closer. Further,the dynamic factor may be adjusted using a randomness factor similar tothe one defined for the static factors above. (309 of FIG. 3). Onehaving ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that calculation andapplication of these dynamic factors simulates typicallynon-quantifiable horse behaviors. As described further below, horses mayperform differently depending upon its running style. A horse may be afront runner, stalker or closer. These running styles may vary dependingupon track conditions, race conditions or track characteristics. Thepresent invention provides a simulation of a race while accounting forthese changing behavioral characteristics. As such, each virtual horse'sbehavioral characteristics are captured and applied as dynamic factors.

Front Runner: for virtual horses classified as front runners, thedynamic factor may be applied to the lead horse if, during the previouscall, the length of the horse's leading offset is greater than anadministratively configurable value. An administratively definedadjustment value and range control the value that is added to thehorse's current call. The actual amount of increase may be equal to theadjustment value ± a randomness factor constrained by the adjustmentrange.

Stalker: for virtual horses classified as stalker horses, the dynamicfactor may be applied to all non-lead virtual horses in the race if,during the previous call, the length of the horse's trailing offset isless than an administratively configurable value. An administrativelydefined adjustment value and range control the value which is added tothe horse's current call. The actual amount of increase may be equal tothe adjustment value ± a randomness factor constrained by the adjustmentrange.

Closer: for virtual horses classified as closer horses, the dynamicfactor may be computed during the final call. This factor may be appliedafter all of the static calls have been computed. In one embodiment,this factor is only applied if the latest computation for the currentcall is within an administratively configured percentage of themathematical average of the last N races. An administratively definedadjustment value and range control the value which is added to thehorse's current call. The actual amount of increase will be equal to theadjustment value ± a randomness factor constrained by the adjustmentrange.

Updating

In addition to performing the calculations of the static and dynamicfactors, the racing engine may also be responsible for updating therecords associated with each virtual horse. (311 of FIG. 3). The racingengine will determine the results of a virtual race, and may rank, orplace, the virtual horses accordingly. Consequently, the purse amountfor the virtual race will need to be distributed by an accounting aspectof the racing engine. For example, if the purse is to be divided intofour parts, then the owner of the winning (first place) horse mayreceive 60% of the purse. The owner of the place (second place) horsemay receive 22% of the purse. The owner of the show (third place) horsemay receive 12% of the purse. Finally, the owner of the fourth placehorse may receive the remaining 6% of the purse. The accounting aspectcalculates the exact amount of money each owner should receive after therace and transfers funds from a house account to each member's account.One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that other pursedistributions are possible as well which may also be calculated by theaccounting aspect of the present invention.

A horse call results aspect of the racing engine may be responsible forsaving the results of the race to a database. For each virtual horse,the times for each of the four calls may be stored, in addition to eachvirtual horse's position, distance from the competing position, and thevelocity of each call.

Other aspects of the present invention may cause other data values to bestored, including the last raced date of each virtual horse in the race,the position of each virtual horse in a race, and the overall class ofeach virtual horse. In one embodiment of the present invention, eachvirtual horse may be ranked by a class A through E (with A being thehighest class). As a virtual horse wins races, the class to which itbelongs can increase. A horse update aspect of the present invention maybe responsible for determining when a horse's class should be upgradedand when to enact the update. In one embodiment, fouradministratively-defined thresholds control this ranking process. Forexample, to move from a D class to a C class or a C class to a B class,a virtual horse must have collected a certain number of total wins inits lifetime. In a further example, to move from a B class to an Aclass, a horse must exceed a certain win percentage for the currentseason. One will appreciate that a horse may also be downgraded from anA class to a B class if its win percentage for the current season fallsbeneath a separate threshold. Similarly, each virtual jockey may beranked by a class A through E (with A being the highest class). In thisfashion, a virtual jockey may increase or decrease in class dependingupon his performance in successive virtual races. An aspect of thepresent invention also provides a class system for virtual trainers aswell. One will appreciate that aspects of the present invention providefor users, who may be competing as virtual trainers, jockeys, breedersor handicappers of the virtual horse races, to increase or decrease inrank, providing an incentive for better performance.

As a result of the compilation of virtual race calculations, the presentinvention may generate a number of data points that may be summarizedusing statistics. These statistical results may also be stored by thepresent invention for referral during the lifetime or racing season forthe horse, jockey, owner, trainer or breeder.

Using the data calculated as shown, an embodiment of the presentinvention organizes the data for display as a digital virtual horseracing form. (313 of FIG. 3). The racing engine therefore provides allof the information that may be useful to a handicapper or user of thepresent invention, including information on a virtual horse's speed,pace, form, class, post position and other factors used by handicappers.The horse racing form may be presented to a user and analyzed in orderto make educated bets on a virtual horse race. The virtual horse racingcomponent of the present invention therefore captures all of theinformation typically found in a traditional print racing form. Sinceall data is compiled by the racing engine, the present inventionprovides a completely virtual horse racing environment, since no realhorses or jockeys are involved in the generation of data for the virtualhorse racing form. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate thatonce the virtual horse racing form is generated, it may be used forother applications that form part of the present invention.

Three-Dimensional Display

An embodiment of the present invention may involve a three-dimensionaldisplay of a virtual horse race that may work in conjunction with thevirtual horse racing form and/or the racing engine aspects of thepresent invention. The virtual horse race may be played by simultaneoususers over the internet. In this embodiment, players may simulate almostevery aspect of real horse racing in a virtual environment. According toone aspect of the present invention, the virtual horse racingenvironment may permit the following actions:

Buying and Selling Horses

In one embodiment of the present invention, players may be able to buyvirtual horses from other players or from the system. In addition tobuying and selling horses in direct one-on-one transactions, players mayalso have the ability to buy and sell horses though auctions.

Breeding

An aspect of the present invention may allow a player to create a newvirtual horse by breeding from a set of virtual horses in the system. Inthis embodiment, a player may breed from any other player's virtualhorse or from a set of virtual horses created by the system. During thebreeding process, a new horse may be generated using a combination ofweighted random values and the values of the sire and the dam. In oneembodiment, if both the sire and the dam are sprinters, the probabilitythat the foal will be a sprinter is much higher than if only a singleparent is a sprinter.

Training

In one embodiment of the present invention, a player may train his/herhorse or register his/her horse with another trainer to increase thestamina, speed, and agility attributes of a horse. Each trainer maylicensed with a set of activities that will affect particular aspects ofthe horses he/she is training.

Purchasing Upgrades

An embodiment of the present invention may permit players to purchaseupgrades for their horses, i.e. aluminum horse shoes, which may randomlyimpact their horse's abilities in certain areas. In one embodiment, thehorse's speed, strength, stamina, etc., may be impacted through theseupgrades.

Racing

In one embodiment of the present invention, races may be created by thesystem or by players, with race results calculating using the racingengine aspect described previously. An administrator or player mayspecify registration criterion that could limit the types of horses thatcan run in any particular virtual race. In one aspect, players may enterand race their virtual horses in any race for which their horsequalifies. According to an embodiment, there may be many virtual racesin which a player can run his or her virtual horse. The presentinvention may have many different tracks on which to race, andadditional tracks may be created by an administrator of the system.

Many factors may determine how each virtual horse performs in a virtualrace. According to one embodiment of the present invention, these mayinclude, but are not limited to the virtual horse's running style(frontrunner, stalker or closer), whether the horse is a sprinter orrouter, the preferred track type (dirt or turf), the preferred trackcondition (wet, damp, dry), and the race distance. In addition to eachof these factors, the present invention may use a set of constrainedrandom values to ensure each race mimics the unpredictability of realhorse racing.

Once a race begins, a player may watch the race using a 3D race viewerto visually see the running of the race, according to one aspect. The 3Dviewer may provide the player/spectator with the ability to view therace from multiple points around the racetrack, in addition to viewingthe race from the jockey's perspective. An example of one viewingperspective is shown in FIG. 4. The virtual racetracks may also have abillboard across from the finish line where customized ads can bepresented during the race for vendor sponsored races and events.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the display of thevirtual race may offer the following features:

Racing Calendar

Each virtual racetrack may have a racing calendar associated with itthat may provide multiple virtual races per day in the same manner onefinds at real race tracks. According to one embodiment, there may bemany races in which a player can run his or her virtual horse. Playersmay register their virtual horses for each race based on the horse'seligibility to meet the race conditions in the same manner as real worldracing.

Series

A series of races may be set up that may consist of many virtual racesover the course of a season. The virtual races may be run as singleevents that may be tied together from an awarded point perspective ormay be run in a tournament fashion. In one embodiment, in order to beeligible for the next round, each virtual horse may be qualified basedon his or her performance in the previous rounds. Trophies and prizescan be distributed to the horse (and its trainer, owner, and jockey) ifhe or she wins the series.

Sponsored Races/Series

According to one embodiment, sponsored races/series may be series thatmay be tied specifically to a vendor and/or vendor's product.Commercials, ads, banners, billboards, etc., may be delivered to theplayer/spectator before, during and after the virtual race in the samemanner as if the player/spectator was watching a real race ontelevision. Additionally, a company may sponsor an entire series ofraces (i.e. a tournament) in which prizes are awarded to the topfinishers of the race/series as a means to market their products. Inthis aspect, the present invention may offer an advertising or marketingrevenue source for the hosting service provider.

Casino Embodiment

Another embodiment of the present invention may be used in a casinoenvironment. According to this embodiment, the present invention mayinvolve a closed system environment with the functionality to operatewithout any human intervention. The present invention may perform aportion of or all of the functions that a player would perform in themultiplayer embodiment previously described. According to thisembodiment, the present invention may:

-   -   Independently create and name unique virtual horses with random        attributes    -   Independently create, name and schedule virtual races on the        racing calendar providing unique virtual races from year to year    -   Independently register virtual horses into scheduled virtual        races based on registration criteria providing unique races from        year to year    -   Independently train virtual horses between virtual races    -   Independently run and present scheduled virtual races    -   Independently store virtual race results and historical        information    -   Independently create and present virtual horse racing forms for        scheduled virtual races

The present invention may apply the racing engine and the virtual horseracing form to the casino environment, providing a vehicle forhandicappers to determine which virtual horse to wager upon. The virtualform can be provided for display on a screen, or printed out. The racingengine described previously can also by used to calculate odds orwagering information for users, which may also be displayed or announcedin order to aid in handicapping the virtual horse races.

An embodiment of the present invention envisions displaying virtualraces in a 3D format on a television or CRT screen at the scheduledtime. Virtual races may be calculated milliseconds before their display,which may prevent improper tampering with wagering. One skilled in therelevant art would appreciate that from the end user “handicapper”perspective, the experience may be identical to what would beexperienced when simulcast races are viewed at real-world racetracksthroughout the country, with the exception that players would be viewingand wagering on virtual horses. According to this aspect, the presentinvention thus captures the excitement of a real-world horse race andthe skill of handicapping based upon a real-world racing form, but in anentirely virtual simulated environment.

What is disclosed is a complete virtual horse racing environment, fromthe storage, display and generation of a virtual horse racing form, tothe generation and display of a virtual horse race, to allowing users toparticipate as handicappers, observers, trainers, breeders or owners.One will appreciate that in the description above and throughout,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, toone of ordinary skill in the art, that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form to facilitateexplanation. The description of the preferred embodiments is notintended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. For example,certain mathematical operations are described above that exemplify how aparticular virtual horse racing form is generated. One will appreciatethat the present disclosure includes any type of mathematical operationthat may be used to generate a virtual horse racing form, so long as thevirtual horse racing form is based upon completely virtual horses andhas no origination in values generated from real world horse races orreal world horses.

1. A method for performing a virtual horse race simulation comprising:storing data for each of a plurality of virtual horses, the dataincluding attributes typical of a horse racing form; simulating a raceof at least two of the plurality of virtual horses, wherein performanceof the at least two virtual horses is in part responsive to the data forthe virtual horses and in part responsive to a random variable;modifying the data for the at least two virtual horses in response totheir individual performance in the race; and displaying the data. 2.The method of claim 1, including displaying the data in a racing formformat.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data includes physicalcharacteristics for each of the plurality of virtual horses andperformance information from at least one virtual race.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the performance is in part responsive to a behavioralcharacteristic.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the behavioralcharacteristic is one of frontrunner, stalker or closer.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the race has track characteristics and trackconditions as a factor, and the data includes data corresponding toperformances in at least one previous virtual race on a track withdifferent track characteristics or under different track conditions. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the data is selectedfrom a list consisting of date of a race name, a race track name, a racetrack condition, a race number, a race date, a race type, a race purseamount, a race distance, previous race, race number, track at which racewas run, track condition, race name, a horse's name, a horse's owner, ahorse's breeder, a horse's jockey, a horse's trainer, a horse's sire, ahorse's dam, a horse's performance at a previous race, and a horse'scurrent prize earnings.
 8. The method of claim 1, further including analgorithm for providing odds and wagering information for the at leastone virtual race that is responsive to the data.
 9. A method forsimulating a virtual horse race comprising simulating a race of at leasttwo of a plurality of virtual horses, wherein the performance of the atleast two virtual horses is in part responsive to a behavioralcharacteristic for each of the at least two virtual horses.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the behavioral characteristic is one offrontrunner, stalker or closer.
 11. A computer program product forsimulating a virtual horse race, the computer program product encoded ina medium and including instructions for implementing: displaying a horseracing form for a virtual horse, the horse racing form including a listof virtual horse attribute values that are modified after performance ofthe virtual horse in a simulated race; and calculating horse attributevalues for the horse racing form, wherein calculating is in partresponsive to a random variable, in part responsive to the performanceof the virtual horse in a previous simulated race, in part responsive tothe track conditions and track characteristics of the virtual race, andin part responsive to the performance of a second virtual horse in thevirtual race.
 12. A computer program product for simulating a virtualhorse race, the computer program product encoded in a medium andincluding instructions for implementing: simulating a race of at leasttwo of a plurality of virtual horses, wherein the performance of the atleast two virtual horses is in part responsive to a behavioralcharacteristic for each of the at least two virtual horses.
 13. Thecomputer program product of claim 12, wherein the behavioralcharacteristic is one of frontrunner, stalker or closer.
 14. A computerprogram product for rendering a simulated horse race, the computerprogram product encoded in a medium and including instructions forimplementing: rendering a three-dimensional rendering of a horse racetrack; and rendering a three-dimensional rendering of a plurality ofvirtual racehorses traveling around the horse race track, wherein theposition of the virtual racehorses is based upon the application of astatistical algorithm on horse attribute values stored in a database,the algorithm responsive to values descriptive of the track, theindividual virtual horses and the track conditions.
 15. The computerprogram product of claim 14, further comprising rendering athree-dimensional rendering of various perspective views of thesimulated horse race, wherein the views comprise overhead views, jockeyviews, quarter-track views, finish line views, starting line views andspectator views.
 16. A method for performing a virtual race simulationcomprising: storing data for each of a plurality of virtual contestants,the data including attributes corresponding to each contestant;simulating a race of at least two of the plurality of virtualcontestants, wherein the performance of the at least two virtualcontestants is in part responsive to the data for the virtualcontestants and in part responsive to a random variable; modifying thedata for the at least two virtual contestants in response to theirindividual performance in the race; and displaying the data.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, including displaying the data.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the data includes physical characteristics for each ofthe plurality of virtual contestants and performance information from atleast one virtual race.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein theperformance is in part responsive to a behavioral characteristic. 20.The method of claim 16, wherein the race has track characteristics andtrack conditions as a factor, and the data includes data correspondingto performances in at least one previous virtual race on a track withdifferent track characteristics or under different track conditions. 21.The method of claim 16, further including an algorithm for providingodds and wagering information for the at least one virtual race that isresponsive to the data.
 22. A method for performing a virtual racesimulation comprising simulating a virtual race of at least two of aplurality of virtual contestants, wherein performance of the at leasttwo virtual contestants is in part responsive to a behavioralcharacteristic for the virtual contestants.
 23. A computer programproduct for performing virtual race simulation, the computer programproduct encoded in a medium and including instructions for implementing:simulating a race of at least two of a plurality of virtual contestants,wherein performance of the at least two virtual contestants is in partresponsive to a behavioral characteristic for the virtual contestants.24. A computer program product for rendering a simulated race, thecomputer program product encoded in a medium and including instructionsfor implementing: rendering a three-dimensional rendering of a racetrack; and rendering a three-dimensional rendering of a plurality ofvirtual contestants traveling around the race track, wherein theposition of the virtual contestants is based upon the application of astatistical algorithm on contestant attribute values stored in adatabase, the algorithm responsive to values descriptive of the track,the individual virtual contestant and the track conditions.
 25. Thecomputer program product of claim 24, further comprising rendering athree-dimensional rendering of various perspective views of thesimulated race, wherein the views comprise overhead views, contestantviews, quarter-track views, finish line views, starting line views andspectator views.